Roughly a week ago, the Browns traded safety Chris Crocker to the Falcons
for a fourth-round pick in the upcoming April draft. This space also reported
that the Falcons had initially offered a later-round pick for Crocker, but
eventually agreed to the fourth-rounder.
Today, we may have learned at least part of the reason why general manager
Phil Savage was able to get his counterpart to pump up the value of their
initial offer.
The OBR
has learned that at least one team jumped into the Crocker fray after learning
of the Falcons interest in the safety and Cleveland’s subsequent willingness to
part with the starting defensive back.
And
that one team? The Dallas Cowboys.
The
Cowboys caught wind of the ongoing discussions between the Falcons and Browns,
and made a call to Savage.
Savage, of course, used this interest to his advantage. He let made it known to
the Falcons that there was another team in the running and, if they really
wanted Crocker, they would need to come off their initial offer and up the ante.
After
mulling it over, the Falcons decided to throw a fourth-rounder on the table.
At
that point, the Cowboys opted out of the bidding—they felt a fourth-rounder was
too high a price to pay for Crocker’s services—and Crocker, for all intents and
purposes, became an Atlanta Falcon.